An independent general election candidate from Co. Wicklow believes the Minister for Agriculture and Irish supermarket giants should follow the example of their French counterparts when it comes to not stocking Brazilian meat on customer shelves in Ireland.
In recent days, French supermarket chain Carrefour committed to not selling any meat from Mercosur countries, the company’s CEO Alexandre Bompard announced.
The agri-business’ commitment to not market any meat from Mercosur countries Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia comes in response to concerns over the Mercosur trade deal among French farmers.
French farmers took to the streets last week to protest against the trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur countries, which would allow an additional 99,000t of beef enter the EU tariff-free from Mercosur.
Wicklow independent election candidate Shay Cullen said: “I’m looking forward to again addressing the farmers of Co. Wicklow at the IFA General election debate in the Woodenbridge hotel Monday night.
“I’ll be outlining my stance on the Mercosur deal alongside calling for clarity for farmers from the government and Irish MEPS with regard to staying on top of Ursula [von der Leyen’s] antics and moves around Mercosur.
“The French supermarket leader Carrefour is backing European farmers in the escalating tensions with Brazil over the trade deal by committing to not selling any meat from the countries involved.
“I believe it would be a positive step for Irish parties with the support of [Charlie] McConalogue to follow suit and show some solidarity with their farming producers here.”
The independent candidate said that the majority of farmers in Ireland believe the current deal between the EU and South American countries will create unfair competition and lower quality standards.
“I will continue to oppose its finalisation and Ireland, like Italy and Poland, should join forces in upping opposition to this verbal deal, which come December, could be a reality on paper,” he continued.
“I’m concerned that the trade deal could be split into parts to speed up its approval through the EU in an attempt to go over the heads of national administrations; this would be a disaster and it’s ironic that with global leaders shouting about saving our planet, the EU is actively trying to push through a deal which, in effect, will further destroy of the Amazon rainforest.”
Cullen concluded by saying the Irish need to up their game in relation to providing clarity to farmers on where the deal is presently.